


A Time he Laughed

by spacedaydreamer



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: ...that has a teeny bit of MM foreshadowing, Bittersweet, Gen, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), but a lighthearted ending, done for a writing prompt on tumblr, it's post ice cavern but pre-water temple in terms of when, just a little interlude, kinda a sad start, some thinking time because being a hero is hard work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-25 19:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: “You’re getting faster, fairy boy!”Malon whistled appreciation as Link slowed Epona to a stop, patting the horse’s mane. He hadn’t been paying much attention to time- he just found that he enjoyed the feeling of racing, and Epona was more than capable of rising to the challenge. She was a good horse.“It’s funny, I never would’ve expected Epona to take such a liking to you. She’s normally quite picky about her riders, you know?”





	A Time he Laughed

“You’re getting faster, fairy boy!”

Malon whistled appreciation as Link slowed Epona to a stop, patting the horse’s mane. He hadn’t been paying much attention to time- he just found that he enjoyed the feeling of racing, and Epona was more than capable of rising to the challenge. She was a good horse.

“It’s funny, I never would’ve expected Epona to take such a liking to you. She’s normally quite picky about her riders, you know?”

He nodded- she’d told him that before, after all. But he didn’t mind when Malon would repeat things. After all, just in general, Lon Lon ranch was some place _relaxing_ to him. After Ingo’d gone back to normal, the place seemed to be just like it’d been seven years ago- in the strange reality that seemed to be his life now, it was something he could understand.

Kakariko was too busy for such a small village, the survivors of the Castle Town attack always huddled close and looking over their shoulders, just in case- _just in case._ Would Ganondorf’s minions find them again? Would monsters overrun the town? Even with the protection of the Sheikah, nothing was guaranteed in Ganondorf’s Hyrule.

Zora’s Domain had frozen, and the Gorons had only just returned to their city, but the sound of empty stone halls and not but one goron child still haunted the back of his mind. He hadn’t been able to tell the goron Link about Darunia yet- he knew he had to, but he hadn’t been able to find the words. After all, how could he explain that his father wouldn’t be coming back yet- and may not for a very, very long time?

Link didn’t know, and the pain still felt a little too personal, so he had yet to decide what to do.

As well, the Kokiri Forest… it felt wrong to be there as an adult. It was no place for adults, no place for _hylians-_ by the goddesses, he wasn’t even a kokiri. The forest was his home, and he missed it more than he could put into words- but he didn’t truly belong there. Perhaps he never had. Staying there didn’t bring him any sort of peace, and that alone hurt him more deeply than any wound he’d had to bare.

And so, Lon Lon Ranch was where he found himself going whenever he needed a few moments of peace- aside from growing older, nothing had really changed. Everything had gone back to normal, and sometimes he needed that normal to ground himself.

“Say, Fairy boy- I never did thank you for bringing my father back, did I?”

Link tilted his head- he hadn’t really thought much about that. Talon had just been sleeping in Kakariko, all he’d done was wake him up.

“And there’s been rumors too- people are sayin’ it’s thanks to you that Death Mountain cleared up. Is that true?”

Link scratched at the back of his head, nodding. It was most certainly true, and he had no reason to lie- but to be asked so plainly was a little embarrassing.

“Why, it’s like you’re a genuine hero! Should I start calling you hero boy instead?” Malon laughed, not expecting an answer. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter much. But either way, you’ve helped us out here a ton. We all owe ya one, fairy boy.”

Link smiled, attempting to brush it off- he’d admit, the gratitude was appreciated, but it wasn’t why he was doing any of it. He just needed to fix things- it was his own fault for sleeping those seven years. He wanted to fix his own mistakes.

It was later that day when Link rode off on Epona, headed for Lake Hylia. Navi liked to sit on his hair when he rode, sometimes needing to grab onto his bangs- she was quick, but Epona was quicker. He didn’t want to leave her behind, so hiding in his hat or resting on his clothes always seemed safest. Not to mention the poes that liked to show themselves when he was on horseback.. it was certainly safer for Navi to be with him.

“Well, Hero Boy?” Navi poked his cheek after he finally got off Epona, leaving her by the lakeside laboratory. The scientist there was a good man, if a little strange sometimes- he looked after her. “Are you headed to the water temple?”

Link found himself laughing- the nickname had been odd enough from Malon, but from Navi it just sounded funny. He was a hero, sure, but he didn’t really think the name fit him well. But then again, Malon just seemed to like giving him nicknames.

“Hey! Why are you laughing?”

Navi gave a huff, and he found himself laughing more. He couldn’t help it- her blue glow turned almost red when she was grumpy, and it always looked so silly. It wasn’t like he _tried_ to make her mad, it just happened sometimes.

“Oh, you- you _child!_ ”

Link just stuck his tongue out- so what if he was? He’d been ten what felt like only moments ago, after all. And he certainly still didn’t feel like an adult, even if he _looked_ the part.

Taking a few moments to finally stop laughing, Link turned and signed an apology to Navi. Even if she did look a little funny when she was glowing all red, he didn’t want her to really be mad. She just sighed and nodded, flying closer to Link.

“It’s fine. Now, be sure to put that zora tunic back on- with a name like the water temple, it’s probably flooded.”

He nodded. While he considered himself decent at holding his breath, he was no zora- he wondered what it’d be like to swim like they did, so free and fast. Perhaps he could ask Ruto once he found her.

But for now, it was time to head into the temple.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a drabble prompt from tumblr, that I liked a lot and figured I could post here. Let Link have some moments to laugh, because by god he deserves it.


End file.
